My AWD

I have bought a 1991 Eagle Talon Tsi AWD.  It was stock when I bought it with 20,000 km on a completely rebuilt engine and Big 16G turbo :>).  I have began modifying it by adding the old style AFC and ripping out the turbo to clean up the coking and port everything out. 

Mod List

Update July 21/01:  Got a call from Frank, the guy doing my engine rebuild, he told me that the people who put it together did a half ass job about it.  One good thing though, I found out that the balance shafts have already been removed.  The head is going out to get checked for cracks and I'm going to find out how much a port and polish job is going to cost.

Update August 17/01:  Got my car back with a used engine and tranny put in for $3200.  I can now shift into 2nd quick with no grinding and the engine has strong compression varying from 150 to 143.  The reason I went this route instead of rebuilding my old engine is because it has 1mm oversized pistons in it and I couldn't wait for 2 replacements to come in.  When I have the money I'll upgrade the pistons to 2g 1mm oversized pistons.  Included in that price is labor and my head getting rebuilt.  Not bad I think.

Update December 31/01:  I've installed a 3 inch press bent catback with a test pipe.  Thanks to Steve from BC DSM for the great deal!  I also installed some 550 RX-7 injectors.  I still have to tune the combo but the car is pulling hard even with some knock.  Just can't really tune the car when it's wet outside.  Pictures of the exhaust beside my stocker to come.

Update June 1/02: I have slapped in a couple of other things and working on others.  I've installed the spoolin-up adjustable fuel pressure regulator.  It's adjusted to about 42 psi with the hose on.  A B&M fuel pressure gauge is attached to the fuel filter.  New NGK wires are now in because my old ones crapped out only after less than a year.  I think the Accells are a better plug wire. I did the MCCC treatment and this cleaned alot of shit out of the engine.   Thanks to Jayme from BC DSM for the Intrax springs.  Maybe I'll put them in today.

Update June 8/02: Damn clutch fork broke and I had to spend the weekend fixing it.  That's three times that I have had to drop the freakin tranny.  Not a fun job!

Update June 15/02: Got the springs in.  Car looks way better without all of the fender gap.  Pics to come.  I've also ordered some spray nozzles from www.mcmaster.com for my water injection project.  A detailed install will be made in the projects section.

Update June 24/02: Got the water injection working and now I can run 20 psi on pump gas safely.  I still have to lean things out little bit but 20 psi feels real good.  Yeah baby!  I'll create a page describing what I've done to do this.  I also adjusted the fuel pressure down to stock levels(37 psi-38 psi)

Update June 29/02: I blew an IC coupling because of all the new found boost ;).  Got some cheap HD rubber couplings that should hold for a little while.  Now it's time to look for a machine shop that can grind down my #10 washers to 0.02" so that I can install the HKS regrinds I have lying around.

Update October 6/02: I just received a 60 psi Shurflow pump (www.northerntool.com) and a solenoid (www.mcmaster.com) to upgrade my homebrew WI kit.  Tried it out at 23 psi and it's working very well.  Pics on the install to come soon.  I just have to fix the problem I have with the throttle plate sticking.

Update November 01/02: I bought a pretty blue silicone coupler for my lower intercooler pipe from Lowell at L&R Racing (www.lr-racing.com). Now the car won't blow the lower IC pipe anymore. I've also got a new throttle body and also removed all the cruise control crap. Thanks Frank.

Update November 03/02: I was lucky enough to get a big brake kit for pretty cheap. I did need to get new rotors and pads though. Made a real big difference in braking distance.

Update November 18/02: I received a 6 bolt block from Bob Brown and was thinking about building up a race motor since I had a rebuilt head laying around, but then I saw a TMO ECU chip being advertised on Club Canada DSM. I just had to have it so I traded the head for the TMO chip and an EPROM ECU. I can't wait to slap it in the car. Thanks Darko and Bob!

Update December 1/02: Thanks to Darko for the TMO stage 3 ECU, came as advertised. Gotta love not having to lift the gas pedal when shifting! Also had a chance to begin installing my Prothane motor mounts. Only had time to put in the front and driver's side though. I'll get around to installing the others another weekend.

Update December 6/02: Took a trip to L&R today to drop off some b-bc's and get some extended upper rear control arms. Now my rears stand straight up and down so I can replace my bald tires now. Thanks for hooking it up, I'll be back in January for a full 3" turbo back exhaust.

Update December 9/02: Got a set of Dunlop SP5000 tires from Wally today. Took less than half an hour to get them in and I got a discount ;). Check Waly out when shopping for tires at Volco on Bridgeport in Richmond.

Update December 15/02: Finally got all the engine mounts replaced with the Prothane kit. Shake rattle and roll;)

Update December 20/02: Got some lifter shims made up. Now it's time to see how these HKS re-grinds feel for myself. Maybe I'll install them this weekend. Hopefully I can do it without having to re-do the timing belt.

Update December 31/02: Picked up the RRE shifter bushings from L&R. I had just plain washers in there before but now with the shifter bushings in it feels better. I still need to make some adjustments but the shifts feel better than when I had the washers in there.

Update March 17/03: I finally got off my ass and got the cams installed. I actually watched Ryan Lore do it :). The cams kick ass. I also picked up and installed a rear strut tower bar from him.

Update May 24/03:  Installed the 2G mas with a Lore-spec 3" stainless intake.  I had to increase the fuel pressure a bit to get it to idle properly and made some afc adjustments.  I was also able to set my boost pressures properly with the dual b-bc setup.  I'll update the link on the projects page.  Pictures below.  

Update June 1/03: Did a compression test on the car just to check.  Turned out that I'm at 150 psi in all cylinders except for number 1 which was at 145.  Also removed the trimming around the headlights to improve airflow to the filter.  Pictures below.

Update June 26/03: Installed a four bolt rear end on the car.  That was fun.  Also I couldn't really get the dual b-bc working due to the cheap three-way solenoid.  Screw it I'll settle with on b-bc until I can find a better solenoid.  Gotta fix some boost leaks also. 

Update July 01/03: Broke my clutch fork again.  I was able to get it towed to Topend and Frank sold me a tranny.  The tranny in my car did have problems shifting into 2nd at high rpm and had low pedal engagement.  The new tranny has a raised pedal engagement and shifts nice.

Update July 11/03: Went to Mission today to see how the car would do.  My best was a 13.65 at 101.95 mph on pump gas.  Time to tune and better that time.  Also have to fix a huge boost leak that blew in fourth gear at the end of the track.

Update February 21/04: Changed my shocks to KYB AGXs today courtesy of Lowell @ L & R Racing.  Settings are at 3 front and 5 back.

Update March 21/04: Over the last couple of weeks some maintenance was done.  Replaced both front ball joints, front control arm bushings, driver's side sway bar link, passenger side hub, front sway bar bushings.  I've changed the engine, tranny and transfer case oils.  I still gotta do the driver's side hub, rear diff fluid change, front sub frame bushings and all the rear bushings :(

Update April 6/04: Changed my injector seals a couple of days ago and found out that one of my injectors has a cracked cap.  That sucks!  Might have to upgrade to 650's :).  Installed the RMDSM rear sway bar along with new bushings.  Car looks a bit higher in the rear now.

Update May 18/04: Got a set of 650's from Kinetic and slapped them in.  Talk to Ryan, he'll hook you up.  Put a new rad in and will be replacing all the coolant lines.  Car is currently jacked up to replace all belts, tensioner, water pump and idler pulley.

Update July 22/04: Was able to put the car back together.  New water pump is in as well as the idler pulley.  Decided to upgrade the fuel line from the fuel filter right to the rail.  Click here for the run down.

Update October 14/07: Damn it's been a long time with no updates.  Well I've converted the talon to speed density using the pudhead code found on the DSM ECU list.  So far there have been 75 revisions and it's still being fine tuned.  The code has been modified to add a studder box, NLTS and to trigger my meth injection at more than 3000 RPM, more than 10 psi and at a throttle position more than 75%.  Car is running at 25 psi but I have some knock issues to deal with.  AFR is good but the knock sensor must be picking something else up.  With the current setup in the mods list, minus the clutch,  the car ran a best of 13.2 at 10? mph.  This was missing 4th and a slipping Centerforce clutch.

The GT-14 bb turbo is niceeeeeeee.  Spool up is obviously slower than the 16G but damn does it kick you back in your seat.  Can't wait to break the new clutch in to try and launch and break all 4 :).

Gremlins to tune out is the meth injection trigger, I suspect a faulty relay or something.  Once confirmed to be triggering properly I'll turn the boost up to 30 psi.

Update November 11/07: Well found out that the knock could have been caused by loose flywheel bolts vibrating shit loose :P.  With Mike's help we were able to rip out the tranny diagnose it and slap it back together.  Break in is done so it's happy times.

Extended maps with the speed density is being tested on my car.  I've got to lock the AFRs in the car and fine tune my hard VE table.  Car's power feels smoother and still gives that kick.  At 30 psi I get a studder at full boost around 5000 RPM, thinking that spark is being blown out so I've tightened the plug gaps to 0.025.  More tuning to follow.

Ram air like and signal switch mods    

I switched the wiring between the signal lights and the side lights.  I've also changed the bulb colors.  The headlights are open slightly using the adjuster knob and the trim around the headlights have been removed to improve airflow to the air filter.